Article carrier assemblies are used in a wide variety of applications with motor vehicles to carry or restrain articles on a vehicle. Many such vehicle article carriers are adapted to be used on a roof of a motor vehicle for supporting articles above the roof of the vehicle.
One particular style of vehicle that is especially useful for transporting cargo is a pickup truck. Present day pickup trucks have a bed behind a cab portion. The bed is typically of sufficient size to carry a wide variety of cargo items of varying sizes and shapes. However, when carrying cargo or articles of various sizes, often the articles must be restrained in the bed so as to prevent the articles from tipping over, sliding or otherwise moving around in the bed while the vehicle is being driven. There have been previous attempts to provide cargo restraining systems for use with a pickup truck bed, with varying degrees of success. Nevertheless, it would still be highly desirable to provide a cargo restraining system that is specifically adapted for use with a bed of a pickup truck, and that can be easily positioned by a single individual to restrain a wide variety of articles of different sizes and shapes from movement within the bed. It would further be highly desirable to provide such a cargo restraining system that does not otherwise interfere with operation of the liftgate at a rear portion of the bed.